Textile inspection apparatus



Oct. '28, 1952 J. GIFT TEXTILE INSPECTION APPARATUS Filed March 10, 1949 2 SHEET$SHEET l INVENTOR: Joli/2 6 9 i,

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Oct. 28, 1952 J. GIFT 2,615,334

I TEXTILE INSPECTION APPARATUS Filed March 10, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 WITNESSES l N VEN TOR:

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Patented Oct. 28, i952 UN IT E-D STATES PATENT OFFICE TEX'rILE IN sPEoTIoN APPARATUS John Gift, Temple, Pa. Application March 10, 1949, Serial-No. 80,604

screens. (01. 73459) This invention relates to. textile inspection 'apf paratusthat is tosay, to apparatus useful in detecting variations in'lthe selvage lengths of articles of textile. manufacture. such, for example, as knitted stockings. I v a v v I,

Notwithstanding the] exercise offthe utmost care in'the commercial'production of stockings and the like, considerable differences in selvage lengths may occur in them, even whenproduced on the samemachine, due in part to variations in the tension maintained on the yarns, and ,in greater part to improperlyv adjusted knitting heads .and other contributing causes. In the case of full fashioned stockings, considerable differences are found inthe lengthsof the selvages between the toe ends and the Zhe'ei tops, and betweenthe-heeltops and the upper ends of the flat knitted blanks. Accordingly, when such blanks are run (through the seaming machines as is ordinarily done,jtheheelicheeks and the upper ends'of the s'elvages fail to-register properly in the finished hose. Stockings with this defect cannot of course be marketed as first grade andfmust therefore'be disposedof'at a loss. However, if the difference in selvage lengths is detected and corrected at the knit--' ting heads, stocking blanks with uniformselva ge lengths are delivere'd to the seaming'machine operators, thus reducing greatly the number of seconds and greatly improving the quality of the finished product. 7 i a a r a a The aim of my inventionis to provide a simple, compact, and inexpen'siveappara'tus whereby flat blanks for stockings orother textile articles of which the opposite edges are to be seamed in finishing, can be readily and quickly inspected, for detection of differences in the lengthsof the selvages, and themeasure of the differences directly ascertained and corrected, at the knitting heads, with a view toward obviating the drawbacks above pointed ou't.

In the attached;drawings Fig 1 shows the front elevation of a textile inspection apparatus conveniently embodying my'invention. I,

Fig. Zshdwsthe apparatusdnside elevation.

Fig-'3 is a; fragmentaryview in section taken along the line IIIIII in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in section corresponding to Fig. 3, with certain movable parts of the apparatus differently positioned.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V in Fig. 2.

Figs. 6 and '7 are diagrammatic views in front elevation showing how the apparatus is used in comparing the selvage edges for length in different portions of a stocking.

As herein delineated, my improved textile inspecting apparatus is in a form suitable for mounting on a work table or bench, and characterized by having a foundation I0 which may be ,2 I constructed from lumber with a horizontal base board H, and with an upright back board l2.

Fastenedin laterally spaced relation to the back board l2 are brackets I3, and 13a from which project forwardly at different levels, parallel horizontal rods l5, l5a and I6, lGa with crosswise-attached fabric engaging point combs ll, Ila and I8, 18a attheir outer ends, said combs being pitched upwardly and outwardly at a slight inclination to the horizontal. Independently swingable up and down abouta transverse shaft l9 journalledin laterally-spaced bearing .projections 20, 20a of a fixed bracket 21 on, the back board I2 at a level somewhat above the base H, are two arms 22 and 22a. At. their distal ends, the arms 22, 22a are provided, with crosswise fabric engagingpoint combs 23, 23a which are like those on the rods l5 and 16 but inclined downwardlysomewhat. From Figs. l, and. 5 it will be observed that the fulcrum bosses of the arms 22, 22a are respectively positioned between the inner faces of the bearingv projections ,20, 20a of the bracket 2| and collars 24, 24a fast on the shaft l9, and, as a consequence, are, maintained in vertical alignment with the rods l5, ['6 and I511, I611 respectively. Adjustable along the arms 22, 22a are, weight blocks 25, 25a which are securablein, adjusted positions by winged clamp nuts 26, 26a. In practice,,the blocks 25, 25a are so set that the gravitational efiect of the arms 22, 22a will, be exactly equal.

,The'graduated arcuate scales indicated atZ'I, 27a have their center of curvature in. the axis 'of shaft l9, and are supported on the arms 22, 22a by segmental braces 2 8 28a fashioned from stiff strip material. For coordination with, and for direct reading of the scales 21, 21a, I have provided an indicator 29 withoppositely directed arrowipoints, said indicator being supported centrally of the interval between said arms by a post 30. upstanding from .thebase II at the front.

For thepurpose of raising the arms 22, 22a to the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 2 and so holding them against dropping while, a

fabric to be tested is being applied inthe appa ratus as'presently'explained, I have ma'de'the following provisions: Secured to the shaft I9 at one end is a hand lever 31 which is swingable upward from the full line position to the broken line position in Fig. 1. When in the latter position, the lever 3| is looked through engagement of a lateral stud 32 thereon with a re-- tractable gravity latch 33 pivoted on another bracket 34 at the front of upright board 12. As the hand lever 3! is moved upward, the shaft [9 is turned counterclockwise and lateralstuds 35, 35a on the collars 24, 24a are eventually brought into engagement respectively .with radial lugs 36, 36a on the fulcrum bosses of arms 22, 22a as in Fig. 4, and thereby lift said arms to the broken line position in Fig. 2. With the hand lever 3| all the way down, the studs 35, 35a on collars 24, 24a occupy positions sufficiently remote from the lugs 36, 36a on the fulcrum bosses of arms 22, 22a to allow free and independent movement of said arms during inspection of the fabric specimens.

Operation Let it be assumed that the weighted arms 22, 22a are fully raised to the broken line position in Fig. 2 with the hand lever 3| locked upright by the latch 33. When a stocking blank B is to be examined for foot selvage length, end loops of a definite course of the fabric adjacent the toe tip are first impaled upon the points of the fixed combs l8 and l8a on the low rods 16, Ilia. With this accomplished, the end loops of the fabric course marking the top of the reinforcementof the heel cheeks H are impaled upon the points of the combs 23, 23a at the ends of arms 22, 22a, whereupon the hand lever 31 is swung down to its horizontal position in Fig. 2. As a consequence, the arms 22, 22a are released to descend by gravity and the selvage segments between the points l3, 18a, 23 and 23a along opposite edgesof the stocking foot placed in equal tension. In the event that the selvage segments under test are uneven, the arms 22, 22a will drop to correspondingly different extents as shown exaggeratedly in Fig. 6, and the length variation be directly indicated by the scales 21, 21a by the pointer 29 as in Fig. 1.

If the selvages of leg portion L of the stocking blank are to be tested for length, the upper pair of fixed point combs I1, l'la are used. In this case end loops at the selvages in the course marking the top of the heel reinforcement of the blank are impaled upon the points of combs I1, Ila, and loops at the selvages in a definite course adjacent the welt at the top of the blank impaled upon the points of combs 23, 23a on arms 22, 22a. From then on, the procedure is the same as above described with regard to the inspection of the foot selvages.

While for the purposes of exemplification herein, I have disclosed my improved apparatus in a form especially intended for the inspection of hosiery, it is not to be construed as limited to this field of use alone, since by suitable modifications within the scope of the appended claims, it can be readily adapted or arranged for the testing of other flat knitted or woven articles of textile manufacture without departing from the spirit of the invention. 1

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Inspection apparatus, for textile articles such as flat knitted selvaged hosiery blanks, com-,

prising a fixed upright support; a pair of laterally spaced elements affixed to the support adlacent the top and adapted to engage the articles on adefinite transverse line at the selvages; a horizontal shaft rotative in a bearing on the support at a level below the elements aforesaid; a pair of forwardly-reaching arms independently fulcrumed on the shaft and respectively provided at their distal ends with means for engaging the articles at the selvages on a transverse line spaced from the line first mentioned; weights on the arms adjacent the distal ends of the latter; and means for indicating any differences in the length between the two fabric edge portions while under tension.

2. Inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upright support is sustained from a base plate: and wherein the indicating means includes graduated arcuate scales on the respective arms curved concentrically to the axis of the shaft, and a fixed indicator rising from the base plate between the arms and provided at the top with a double pointer for coordination with the respective scales.

3. Inspection apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the fixed fabric-engaging elements and the fabric-engaging elements on the arms are in the form of points onto which the selvages are adapted to be impaled.

4. Inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for raising and holding the arms in raised position while the articles to be inspected are being applied to the several fabric engaging elements, said means including a hand lever affixed to the shaft, radial lugs on the fulcrum bosses of the weight arms, collars fast on the shaft adjacent the respective arms having lateral projections to cooperate with the radial lugs aforesaid in lifting and supporting the arms when the hand lever is raised from a normal horizontal to vertical position, and a retractable keeper latch for locking the lever when so raised.

5. Inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the weights are adjustable along the respective arms.

. JOHN GIFI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 521,323 Schopper June 12, 1894 853,903 Shaw May 14, 1907 1,327,393 Jury Jan. 6, 1920 1,783,455 Schneider Dec. 2, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 704,720 France Feb. 24, 1931 13,604 Great Britain Dec. 12, 1907 

